The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

12-0 run leads Knights past Van Wert

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

It was a tight game for three quarters, but Crestview used a 12-0 run to pull away from Van Wert on the way to a 42-33 victory in front of a big crowd at Van Wert High School on Saturday.

The game changing run consisted of all three point plays, with the first being a triple by Javin Etzler that pulled the Knights to within two, 29-27 with 1:05 left in the third quarter. Colton Lautzenheiser and Derick Dealey hit back-to-back treys to open the fourth quarter, then a basket and free throw by Etzler put Crestview up 36-29 with 5:51 remaining in the game.

Crestview’s Drew Kline (10) tries to score over and around Van Wert’s LeTrey Williams (12) and Blake Henry (23). Wyatt Richardson/Van Wert independent

“When you put together a run like that, a lot of times that’s going to be the difference and it was,” Crestview head coach Jeremy Best said. “I give our guys credit for hanging in there in another physical game.”

“Teams just beat the tar out of us and for the most part we’ve kept our composure, dealt with it and moved on to the next play mentality. That’s not going to change and our guys need to continue to combat that and play with purpose.”

Drew Bagley hit a pair of foul shots at the 5:08 mark in the fourth quarter, but Etzler drilled a three pointer to increase Crestview’s lead to 39-31. Nate Place scored Van Wert’s only basket of the quarter with 49 seconds left in the game. When the dust settled, the Knights outscored the Cougars 15-4 in the quarter.

“I’m really proud of our kids tonight,” Van Wert head coach Mark Bagley said. “The effort was outstanding and we played our game plan to perfection for three quarters.”

“Crestview went on a 12-0 run and that’s been our bugaboo all year long. We gave up a 15-0 run in the first game of the year and several 10-0, 12-0 runs and once the snowball started we couldn’t get it stopped. Once again, it’s a skill level game and we didn’t make open shots tonight. We had a lot of open shots and didn’t make them.”

Things looked good early on for Van Wert, as LeTrey Williams and Place gave the Cougars a 5-0 lead to open the game, then Owen Treece and Blake Henry hit baskets for a 9-4 lead. Crestview’s first four points came on foul shots by Kalen Etzler and Javin Etzler, with the latter providing a trey at the 4:40 mark of the opening period.

The Knights led 10-9 to start the second quarter, and after Lawson Blackmore hit a short bucket, Javin Etzler drilled another triple and Kalen Etzler scored off an offensive rebound to give Crestview a 15-11 advantage. The younger Etzler later hit a three to increase the lead to 18-13, but Bagley connected on consecutive treys to pull the Cougars to within one, 20-19, a score that stood at halftime.

Baskets by Williams and Blake Henry put Van Wert up 23-20 early in the third quarter, but a basket and free throw by Wade Sheets tied the game with 6:08 remaining in the period. The Cougars came back to take a 29-24 lead on a free throw by Lawson Blackmore, a pair of foul shots by Place and a bucket by Bagley, who finished with a team high 10 points.

Javin Etzler led all scorers with 20, while Kalen Etzler finished with 11.

Crestview (8-1) will play at Delphos Jefferson on Friday and at Arlington on Saturday, while Van Wert will host Ottawa-Glandorf on Friday, then will travel to Marion Local on Saturday.

Scoring summary

Van Wert 9 10 10 4 – 33
Crestview 10 10 7 15 – 42

Van Wert: Owen Treece 1-0-2; 3-1-7; LeTrey Williams 2-1-5; Blake Henry 2-0-4; Lawson Blackmore 2-1-5; Drew Bagley 3-2-10

Crestview: Kalen Etzler 3-4-11; Wade Sheets 1-1-3; Javin Etzler 5-6-20; Drew Kline 1-0-2; Colton Lautzenheiser 1-0-3; Derick Dealey 1-0-3

JV: Van Wert won 37-20

POSTED: 01/07/19 at 5:46 am. FILED UNDER: Sports